Boston Computer Society - Sinclair Timex User Group Newsletter

EDITOR'S NWOTHS

{his second 1488 issue has
some bad news. Since last
November the membershiv of
bosSTUG «boston Sinclair/Timex
User croup has declined from
175 to 150. We can't keep
that up very long and stili
quality as a user group.

The current issue has several
articles by Jim Rodlin. whose
enthusiasm and energy gO a
long way. Jim is the Sysop of
the TIMEWARP Bulletin Board
and has been a very stable and
encouraging element of the
active portion of our group.

Mike Mitchell appears agatn
with the profile of baw he
uses the OL in bts iob.

And Al Boehm. our emissary ta
the Timex/Sinclair Winterfest
in Orlando. Florida. ts here
again with some tips. (Can we
have a report next time. AL??

The reat is mostiv gleanings
from newsletters of other
groups with whom we exchange
and 4 LETTER from a MEMBER in
CALIFORNIA.

I know that many of you feel
that a lack of expertise in
computers means that you have
nothing to contribute. That
is B_ S___! ( A non-KEYWORD)

You have not been using your
computer for all this time
without having learned
something. Try to remember
your excitement when you tirst
learned it. Maybe everyone
else knows it. but maybe not!
So please share your knowledge
with the rest of us.

kvervone | personally know in
the group 1s verbally articu-
late. You have opinions and
vou have questions. Both have
a place in thts newsletter

Upintons include reviews ot
Sottware and books that you

BoSTUG Wewsletter, March 1988

use. whether new or around for
a whttle. @uestions tnclude
ail kinds or ‘HOW to’ matters
that stump you.

cena them on paper.
microcartridge (tf OL) or over
a moden. <Nearly half the
original contributions to this
issue arrived in mv computer
over a modem.7

So can we have some help?

TABLE of CONTESTS

i)

Editor's Notes

birectoryv

Updates

Letters

Sinclair User brorile
Mike Mitcheil

vleanings (Q LINK Undate,

T7S 1000 Corner (Marbles?

Tip <«Microdrive Labels)

Bug box (S/T 2068)

Tip <vL Hardware?

Ftie transters (wL to IBM?

Tip (LOCAL in DOS,

Review (Sir Clive's 236)

Fersonaiities

SuperbAS]U tor BEGINNERS

RARER

OOONINNIATNSO

COPY 10
Meeting Notes le
WANT ALS le
lbinzg wh File Ivpes 13

page 3

IKKUTUORY

oO director reter Hale
fo3-9345
John kemenv
9575347
John Kemeny

-o- director

veneral wuestions

209-3347
lacbine Language Jonn Kemeny
20373347
‘ardware Library Lee ball

Lee, what's vour FHUNE?

jortware Library Volunteer

needed

sditer ‘pro tem, reter Hale

723-8545

7L sub-uroup Feter Haile

7ea-0545

‘Lexi-bbs o46-7oo1

sysop: bob Cutter 040-4425

IREWAKR (BBS) 441-0955

esvsop: jim kodlin 461-2155
tember services

Liason Will Stackman

647-0055

‘he sinclair/timex Newsletter
-S the otzriciai publication or
che boston Computer saoctety'’s

dineiairy Timex user Group
-bOSTULs.
fembership is $55.0U per year

‘rom the Soacietv at 1 Center
‘iaza, Boston, MA 02108,

he newsietter maintains an
mchange policv with Sinclair’
.imex User groups willing to
-eciprocate. riease rorward
xchange issues to the editor,
vater Hale, at F.U. box 8703,
saston. MA vellda.

mmiless coapvwritten bv the
author. articles are in the
jublic domain. aAttriputtan is
-equested.

UPDATES

ast month's review af Taking
he Quantum Leap omitted the
ddress of Time Designs
agazine. It's 29722 Hult
oad, Colton, OR 7017. The
rice 1S $26.00 ppd.

HOSTUG Newsletter, March 1988

LHTTEE TO THE EDITOR

Glad toa see that the BCS T/S
group is still alive and we
enioyed your Jan. newsletter.

South Bay Computer Club
T/S MEETING NOTES:

ED GREY (Mr. Modem) filled in
with an overview of the latest
national news of the Florida
fest which he will not attend

and the Worthwest which he
WILL. Hea gave Fred N. a plug
on his new 17S100/Z2%61 Scram
Hikes board. Also don’t

forget Frea‘s TS1000 window 60
col modes progran.

BBS WOTICE: DAVE CLIFFORD‘’s
board ite down for repairs.
BD's NEW BBS 1s 1-213-971-6260

«G & C Computer Producte)

MARIN WILCOCK reviewed the QL
keyboard problems. He has
developed a fairly invaived
‘fix’ and it anybody is
interested, I will pass the
information on.
BOB SCHINKE (Mr. Rocketman)
bas bean working with Larken
for the past couple of yeare
to get a 20608 disk systen
running. Ag he looked back at
all the integration problems
be had to conquor, his advice
was to buy the ‘turnkey’
package. The whole system now
works great and doas all the
things you would expect a
drive system to do.

BOB uses a TS1000 for field
calculations during model
rocket launching meets in tha
Mohave Desert.

- John W. Petersen
2316 Walnut Ave,
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
3-213-549-9581
24 br BBS: 4-213-329-3922

page <

SIECLAIR USER PROFILH

MIKB MITCHELL works for RICHARD

DAHA Corp as @ wechanicali
engitteer, The company designs
and builds automatic assembly
equipment which need custom

cams (with a small C - the kind
that built the industrial revol-
ution ~ not the CAN’s that heip
tuel the electronic revolution

{A cam 19 & machine element
that produces a repeatable
motion as it rotates on a
shart. Cams offer precision
and high reliability making
them as popular today as they
were thirty years ago.

The following 1s Mike's account
of how he used the superior
qualittes of the QL's Super-
BASIC and QDOS to tuprove hia
firm's productivity and save
gobs of money in the design and
production process. Ed.?}

Mind you that I never tntended
to marry it but like many of my

Projects, it began with the
thought that 1 could do
something better than someone

else and has progressed to
vecoming a part-time obsession.

When I began my present jab, my
employer was renting «a time
share computer with an old 110
baud teletype machine as a
terminal. That computer had
special software to generate
cam profile numertcal data that
was then used by an numerically
controlled milling machine ta
cut the cam profile.

To design acam, the engineer
made a long distance cail to
Michigan, logged on the com
puter, input some parameters,
watted and finally recetved
numerical control codes punched
onto paper tape.

A machinist spooled the paper
tape onto a portable reader and

downloaded the control cades
into hts automatic milling
machine.

BoSTUG Newaletter, March 1988

The time-share computer service
cost $300.00 a month plus about
$80.00 per cam design. In addi-
tton, the i110 baud date
transfer rate and the ‘user-
unfriendly' saftware cost at
engineer 40 minutes per design.

On my own time. 1 began writing
SuperBASIC software to replace
the time-share systen. I con-
vinced my boss that the matt
was correct but was unsuccess-
ful downloading the numerica)
control code from ny Sinclair
OL to the milling machine.

It turned out that the RS-232
on the particular machine wae
synchronous. not asynchronous -
a distinction lost on many whe
are computer literate anc
harder yet for those unfantitar
with computers to understand.

However, my boss was interested
in the idea, He believed that
it was only a matter of getting
a ‘better’ computer since mine
was ‘'tust a toy’

We got a CAD/CAM syster
comprised of a Compac computer
with Computervision software.
I pianned ta translate my
program over to the Compac.

IT had often heard from MS-DOS
‘experts’ that writing programs
in BASIC is impractical and
unprofessional. but I assumed
that there would be a BASIC
language for IBM compatibles
similar ta SuperBASIC. Turba
Basic by Borland looked
promising and I set out to
transiate my 50K program.

It didn't take long to fina out
that Turbo Basic does not hold
a candle ta SuperBAaSIC. The
MS-DOS ‘experts’ who dentgrate
BASIC as a programming language
are talking about BASIC, nat
SuperBasic.

AS good as Turbo Basic is
compared to other BASICS tor
IBM's, it ts woetully lacking
in features we take tor granted

page 3.

in SuperBaSICc. It does not let

vou label your laops, String
slicing 1s tortuous and STRS
behaves differently depending

on whether the number is
positive or negative.

Emulating ODOS's coercion
defeated me and WINDOWing and
SCALEing in SuperBASIC had no
equivalent in Turbo Basic.

Every procedure
required a Turbo
Statement tf a

@lobal,

and function

Basic SHARED
variable were
chewing up bytes at an
alarming rate. My QL knew that
1f I dtan't declare it as
LOCAL. it must be global.

Bugs, errors in documentation
and infertor cade finally
torced me to admit to my boss
that | had made a judgement
error in recommending an MS-DOS
equivalence as a solution.

Well, ! talked my boss into
doing what we should have done
in the first place. He got a
full blown QL with dual floppy
drives, Trump Card and color
monitor. My program is now
TURBO-CHARGEd in modules and
works faithfully everyday.

The code for the automatic
milling machines is transfered
to the COMPAC because it has a
40 KEG bard drive to store the
stuff and 1s wired for the
necessary data communication --
the OL does the thinking.

MS-DOS
know
who cut their teeth or whatever
On an expensive MS-DOS machine
are too embarrassed to even
acknowledge the Quantum Leap.

‘experts’ simply do not

The only problem that i still
have is the constant temptation
to make improvements to the
program which, by the way, paid
tor the OL system in less than
three months af not needing ta
time-share on another computer.

- Mike Mitchell

BaASTUG Newsletter, Narch 1988

about Superbasic and many’

GLKANINGS FROM THE PRESS

CHATS, the newsletter of the
Harrisburg. PA TS User Group)

@_LIBK Update

(The author had had difficuity
with Xmodem transfers with the
terminal software tor the QL,
called Q_LIBK)

1 dectded to rewire ai stock
RS-232 printer cable for modem
use. Thea pinouts are given in
the Q LINK manual. 1 moved a
Wire on pin 5 ta pin 4 of the
DB-25. 1 snipped off the DB-9
and rewired if for the given
pinouts. I replaced it with a
DB-9 I bought at Radto Shack.

My testa show that both the
Modapter Plus and the new
cable work equally well on
local syatems at 1200 baud.
Text and Xmodem transfers work
flawlessly on both.

On Compuserve, text works
flawlessly on either the new
cable or the modapter, but in

Xmodem transfers I am getting
a lot of errore with the
MNodapter which chow up as many
repeats. Xnodem transfers
using the new cable work
flawlessly when Compuserve is
not busy. I still get some
errors when Cospuserve or
perhaps the Compuserve mode |
am useing is busy

~ (author not cited?

page 4

'T/S 1000 Carnert

Here's another game for your
TS 1000 or ZX81. iocall it
“MARBLES”, It uses the same

screen-reading technique as my
last program (“MINES”).

This program is a pinball-like
marbles game. The object of
the game is to score the most
points by dropping your
marbles into the high-scoring
Slots. At the beginning, you
are asked for the number of
Plavers. (Enter 0 to watch the
T/S 1000 play with itself>.
Then type tn the names of each
player.

For each turn, you have five
marbles. Presa a key to launch
a marble, The computer will
Play its own marbles automati-
cally. After five turns, the
game 1s over.

Lines 10 through 45 print out
the triangie-shaped field of
Pins that the marbles bounce
down through. Lines 50
through 130 set up the rest of
the game board, input the
Players‘ names and reset the
Pplayers' scores. The arrays
PS) and S(t) hold the players’
names and scores. The variable
4H is the number of players.

The main part of the progran
is from line 200 to line 240,

where the marbles are falling
down towards the score slots
and bouncing off pins along
the way. This is accomplished
by repeating a loop of
instructions that do the
following:

> Look at the screen
immediately below the marble

(at line 1000>. The content
of the screen at that point is
stored in the variable C.

2) lf a pin is at that
point (if C=3), move the
marble randomiy to the right
or ileft of the pin. (Add or
subtract 1 from vartable X.
The co-ordinates of the marble

BoSTUG Newsletter, March 1988

at any given time are stored
in ¥ and X.

3) Mow move the marble down
one position. ‘Add i ta ¥.)

4) lf we are at the bottom
of the screen (if Y=20) then
skip ta the scoring part;
otherwise repeat the locp.
is easy. Just look at
the screen below the marble
when it reaches the bottom
(get CC) and subtract 26. if
you look in the back of your
TS 1000 user manual (you still

Scoring

have it, right?), on page 136,
you will find the TS 1000
character cades.

Look at the cade for "3".
It's 31. This is returned from
line 21000 when the marble
lands on a "3". Subtract 28

and we get 3, our ecore. Now
find the code for an asterisk.
Subtract 26 from that to get
-5 ! Your best bet is to avoid
landing your marbles here!

Type in the program and play a
few games. Scoring is (theore-

tically? completely random,
but the TS 1000 seems to win
more often than not! See you

next issue!

S REM MARBLES BY JiM RODLIW

10 FOR Yy=o TO 7

15 LET HS=0

16 LET ws=s""

20 RAND 0

25 LET xX=¥

30 POR X=15-X TO 15+K STEP 2

35 PRINT AT Y¥*2+1,X:CHRS 3

40 NEXT X

45 NEXT Y

50 PRINT AT 1,0:"t Five GRAPH
IC/SHIFT-7's1"

55 PRINT AT 20,6;"€ @ @ © ©
@@ © e” £"@"=GRAPHIC/SPACE]

60 PRINT TAB 6:;"€9@3@1@%e5e0
e@1e@35e7¢e"

6S PRINT AT 2,0:"NUMBER OF P
LAYERS?"

70 INPUT W

75 LET N=Nt+1l

60 PRINT AT 2,0;"€18 Spaces}

65 DIM P$(W.8)
90 DIM Su

page 5

95 FOR X=1 TO W-1

100 INPUT PS(X>

105 LET S(X?=0

210 PRINT AT X41.0;PSCX>:" ";
Soka

115 NEXT X

120 LET PS(MD="T/S 1000"

125 LET Siuo=

130 PRINT AT H+1.0;PSCHD;"
ce]

135 FOR T=1 TO 5

140 PRINT AT N+2,0;"TUEN ":T

145 FOR P=1 TO W

150 PRINT AT 0,20: PS8(P)

155 PRINT AT 0,0;"000Q0"

160 FOR B=4 TO 0 STEP -2

165 LET Y=0

170 LET SC=PEEK 16396+256xPEE
K 16397

175 ER WOT P$(P)="T/S 1000" T
HEN IF INKEYS="" THEN GOTO 175

i160 FOR X=B TO 14

185 PRINT AT Y.X:"O"%; AT Y,X:"

190 NEXT X

195 PRINT AT 6,15:"0";AT 0,15
eed

200 GOSUB 1000

205 PRINT AT Y.X:" "

210 IF C=3 THEN LET X=X+1~-(2
AND INT (RND*10)<5)

215 IP C=3 THEN PRIET AT Y,X:
“oO

220 LET Y=Y¥+i

225 PRINT AT ¥-i,X%:" "

230 PRINT AT Y.X:"O"

235 IF Y=20 THEN GOTO 245

240 GOTO 200

245 GOSUB 1000

250 LET S¢(P)=S(P)+(C-28)

255 PRINT AT Pt1,9;S5(P);"
260 PRINT AT Y¥,X:" "

265 NEXT B

270 NEXT P

275 PRINT AT Nt2.p:"(Six spac
esl”

280 NEXT T

285 PRINT AT 0,20;"C€ Bight spa
ces}"

290 IF W=1 THEN GOTO 355

295 FOR X=1 TO BD

300 IF S(X)=HS THEN GOSUB 345
305 IF S(X)>HS THEN GOSUB 335
310 NEXT X

315 PRINT AT 0.16:"THE WINNER

WAS:"
g20 1F WS="T/S 1000° THEN LET
WSs" EMER"

325 PRINT AT 1,23~-(LEN W8$)/2;
Ws

BoSTUG Mewsletter, March 1965

330 STOP

335 LET WS=P8(X)

336 LET HS=S(X)

340 RETURN

345 LET WS="TIE"

350 RETURN

355 PRINT AT 1,16:"“HIGH SCORE

IF S(1)>4S THEM LET HS=S¢
365 PRINT AT 1.29;HS

370 GOTO 120

1000 LET C=PREK (SC+334 (¥+1) +X+

1005 RETURY

2000 SAVE “MARBLEe@” (* = GRA
PHIC/S)
2005 RUN
MICRODRIVEH LaBELS
How that you can only get

Kicrodrive cartridges without
labels, you resort to almoet

any indignity to identify the
cartridge.
HINT Use 1l-line correction
tape fron the stationary
store. It is salf-sticking
and is dust the right width
for the space at the end of
the cartridge.

- Al Boehs

cit
paper

is also useful for hiding
edges when you do a cut

and paste for a newsletter,

and vou don't want the copy

machtne to pick up the shadows

or the line edges.

- Ed.)

page 6

S/T 2068 BUG?

If you try to SAVE, LOAD,
VERIFY, or HERGE with an
improper filename:

E.g. SAVE "file
without a closing quote, the
line editor reiects the

structure as being illegal.

Most people then fix the error
and proceed.

Keep trying to enter the
tllegal structure 9 times and
the ROM crashes.

So who would think in
designing the ROM that anyone
Smart enough to program a S/T
2008 would try to execute the
same illegally structured
statement 9 tima?

You would if you wanted to see
some very pretty displays on
your screen.

— Jim Redlin

HARDVARE TIP POR THE OL

Dees your OL sit here and
stare at you on Ppowerup, Just
daring you to presse Fl or F2?

And when you hit it what
happens? SOTHIEG!!! Right?

Before you chuck the GL into
the trash. or go into deep

depression. or consign Sir
Clive to the seventh level of
Hades. try this simple trick.
Remembering that the OL has a
MEMBRANE KEYBOARD and that
kevs can etick., run the back
of a finger nail over #11 the
keys ‘special notice to Space
bar and ENTER key, please>.

See, the stuck key on power-up
is read by the OL as come
other key than Fl or F2, so of
course it is doing what comes
naturally.

- Peter Hale

BoSTUG Bewsletter, Narch 1988

VILH TRABSFERS OL TO 13K

MOVING A FILE FROM the OL t
an IBM-XT and reverse i
really quite simple.

You need three things:

1) a modem on the IBM and th
terminal software PROCOMM,

2) a break-out box wired toa b
@ specialised null moder, and

3) some SuperBASIC software.

if you are transfering a Quil
document directly, the IB
utility TEXTCON. EXE wit
helpfully strip the contra
cades once the file has bee
transfered to the IBM.

> You have your IBM an
PROCOMM in ASCII mode runnin
at 2400 BAUD. right?

the ser
which 1

You will be using
port on the OL
configured as DCE (Dat.
Communications Equipment? an
can use your printer cable.

The IBM will be using the con
port. configured as DTE (Dat:
Terminal Equipment).

2) Wow hook up your break-ou
box asa null modem. The pi:
numbers are in raised letter:
on the connector when viewe:
end on.

The significant pins for th
breaker-box null modem are 1
2. 3. 7. 20 and 25 coming fro
the OL.

On the IBN side the
Significant pins are 2. 3, 4
5. 6, 7. 8 and 20.

Pins 2, 3. 7 and 20 connec:
directly, but on the OL side
connect pin | to pin 7 and pir
<5 to pin 20.

«Note than on the OL pins 6, ‘
and 6 are connected internally)
ta +12v ground)

Page 7

On the IBM side pins 4, 5. 6
and 8 must be connected
together.

What its happening?

On the OL, using the seri
port. pin 2 is the TXD input
and on the IBM it is the TXD
output. Similarly pin 3 is
RXD for both computers.

Basically the QL is now set to
behave as tf it were a moden.

Pins 7 on
signal ground
to both pin 1,
ground on the QL.
the +12v ground.

the IBM is

which connects
the signal
and pin 7,

the

Pins 4. 5. 6 and & tn the IBM
are tied together so that the
handshaking ts permanently
enabled, On the OL it ia
handled from the software.

Pin 20 on both sides is for
DIR (Data Terminal Ready). It
is also tied to pin 25 on the
OL side to be connected to the
+12v ground. (I am not sure
why.)

3) Now the SuperBASIC software
in the OL.

10 Baud 2400

20 D&="MDV1_"

30 DIR D&

40 INPUT "Input ASCII file to
send: "; FS

50 OPEN_IN #5. DS & FS

55 OPEN_WEW #6. SER1i

60 IF EOF (#5) THEW CLOSE #5:
PRIBT: PRIBT F4;" upload
conpleted": GOTO 70

62 AS=IHKEY$(#5): PRINT AS;:
IF A$=CHR$(15) THEN
AS=CHRS$ (13)

64 PRINT #6.A%: GOTO 60

70 *%=200: ¥4=B820

80 BEEP 0, x%. y%,10,10,14,1,2

90 FOR a=1 to 1000: NEXT a
100 BEEP
This program will load a file

from omdvl_ and transfer it ta
the serl port where it will be
received on the IBM PROCONM
terminal software. provided

BOSTUG Wewsletter, Narch 1988

you have set the Download file
name in PROCOMN.

It 18 also possible to ignore
the connections for pins 20,
and forget the tarminal
software on the PC side.

In this se it 16 necesasry
to ENTEK sm the keyboard on
the OL ‘Dy mdvl_ fred to
serisiz” t on the IBM side

BNTER “copy 21 fred”

It ta said tiszt you can aiao.
transter from the IBM to the
OL by reversing the
instructiona.

{The above article is
from information is

sources. 1) a Vancouver,
Sinclair newsletter
from Harvey Taylor

taken
several
BC,
received
of O_LINK

fame. 2) an editor's note in
Quanta, Vol 4. #12, January
1986, page 5S. and 3) the

appendix of Mastering Serial
Communications, by Pater VW.
Gofton, 1986, Sybex Inc.,
$19.95 at the MIT Coop.)

- Pater Hale
QL PROGRANIEG TIPS

I never saw it mentioned
anywhere epecifically, but I
have found that in SuperBASIC
you run into trouble if you
have too many LOCAL variables.

| suspect the same ie true in
ARCHIVE.

Practical experience has
taught me that no more than &
separate LOCAL variables
should occur in a given
program.

What todo if you need more?
It 1s unlikely that a given
procedure will need more than
8 LOCAL variables. Just
remember to use those came

characters when defining local
variables in other procedures.

- Al Boebn
page &

S1R CLIVE'S 258
(Downloaded from TIMEWARP BBS)

(Steve Green saw tha new 288
laptop from Sir Clive’s new
firm, Cambridge Computers, at
a Washington. DC. ST user
group meeting. His impressions

follow]
The 286 1s 6mall (8 172 x 11
inches), black, and light

(under 2 lbs).

It has a 90 column by 8 row
liquid crystal display. The
monochrome blue on bive is
clear even in bright light.

The keyboard has a
covered with flexible biack
rubber instead of a bubble
membrane - rugged and coffee
proof! Seems the best keyboard
ever made by Sinclair.

grid

The integrated software - word

processor, spread-sheet, and
database, plus caliculater,
diary, calendar, VTS2 terminal

emulation and BBC BASIC comas
on a 128K ROM chip.

AS always there it@ a new
operating syatem called OZ
(written by an Australian ?)
that is menu driven and fully
multitasking.

On board memory 1s 32k, but
three expansion ports allow up
tao three megabytes of memory
expansion!!! (only increments
or 128% are now available but
1 megs are in the works).

There are no drives to store
files (hence the light weight)
but four AA batteries keep the
ram fresh even when the
computer is turned off for up
to a year. They will run the
camputer for 20 hours, A Ov
AC Adapter allows use on the
mains. Batteries can be
changed without losing memory
thanks to the super capacitor
built into the circuit.

BaSTUG Bewsletter, March 1986

Three ports are inciuded. qi)
an KS-232 seriai port, (2) a
port for RGB monitor and disk
drive and (3) a slot accessing
the entire data wus ‘shades of
the 2xX-61).

Currently the price for the UK

version 1s $479.00 from
Sharp's «Rte 10, Box 459,
Mechanicsville, VA 23111 Phone
(804)746-1664),.. 32K Rom and

128k Ram expansions are $35.00
and $85.00 respectively.

The U.S. model. scheduled for
February release, has been
neld up getting FCC clearance.
(Have wa heard that before.
Sinclair fans?)

Steve sees the 7288 as far
supertor both in features and
price to the Tandy 100 and 200
wodels, but notes that the
U.S. market is MS-DOS crazy.

Files can be transfered ta the
QL ‘or an IBM) with the right
cable and software and without
a modem. The true portability
more than offsets the lack of
true compatability.

- From a review by Steve Green

(Thanks Steve. Ed.)

PERSONALITIES

The January Newsletter drew an
offer from a former 2068 user.
She 1s danating her computer
and software to the BCS.

I asked why she was giving up
such an extraordinary computer
as the 2068 and she replied
that her grandchildren had
given her a Macintosh Computer
and she didn't

want to hurt
their teelings by not using
it. indeed, she said. Tasword
e was a superior word

processing program to the one
She used on the MAC!!

- Peter Hale

page 9

SuperBASIC for BEGINNERS

BoSTUG members Peter Hale and
Mike Mitchell are collabor-
ating on a book of the 20 most
useful OL SuperBASIC keywords
for non-programmers.

The idea is to explain in some
detail the KEYWORDS that are
useful in entry from the
keyboard, that ts as direct
commands. for getting more out
of the computer.

The first KEYWORD is COPY.

COPY is used to transfer filea
between devices.

Any discusston of COPY mst
discuss devices as well. The
OL User Guide (OLUG) Concepts
section on devices is helpful
but difficult to read.

A device is any peripheral
attached to a computer,
Examples are drives, keyboards
iconsoles?, modems, monitors
and printers,

Devices that accept output
trom a computer are called

output devices. Some devicee
such as Screens and printers
are for practical purposes
output only.

Others may permit both output
and input to the computer.
Networks, modems and drives
are examples.

Five kinds of devices are
attached to the OL. dut some
‘devices' appear itn multiples.

The devices (with
‘name’

the device
in capitals? ara:

1) the CONsole: Input/Output
2) the SCReen: Output only

3) the SERiai ports (printer
or modem): input/Output

4) the NETworks: Input/Output

BOSTUG Newsletter, March 1986

5) the mass storage devices
<BLoPpy disk. HarDisK, icro-
Drive and RANdisk): input/
Output

Data may be transfered between
most devices.

Even novices with the OL are
generally able to transfer
files between storage devices.

The general forn of COPYtng ie

COPY DEVn_fred_ext
to DEVa_fred_ext

where DEV is the storage
drive, n is the drive number,
and fred_ext is a generic file
name including any extension.

E.g. copy mivi_fred doc toa
flp2_fred_doc copies a file
named frad_doc in microdrive 1
toa file called fred_doc in
floppy drive 2.

REMEMBER: A file stored on a
arive always requires a device
reference as part of its file
name. Soma programs (such as
the PSION programs) provide
default devices (and exten-
sione) if you don't specify a
device as part of the file
name. Others require a device
reference as part of the name
of the file. If one way
doesn’t work, try another.

CONsole is similar to SCReen.
Both open windows on the
monitor screen. The difference
is that CONsole also accepts
input from the keyboard,
whereas the SCReen ie an
uutput device only

CONsole can aleo have a buffer
as wall by adding to its
parameters an extenaion ta

indicate the number of bytes
that can be buffered.

Both CON and SCR have large
detault windows in the upper
center of yvour screen. You
need only specify CON or SCR
to have the default window

page 10

appear. but the size and
position can be changed.

E.g. open#4,e6cr_ 20n50a0x0
open#4,con_100x100a50x50_32

both open a window 20 pixels
wide BY 50 ptxels high AT
co-ordinates 0,0. It accepts

output directed to channel #4.
E.g. PRIET#4,."“ HELLO’

Examplea of Using COPY |

E.g. copy mdvi_fred to scr
Choose any file that is on the
cartridge in MDV1 and
substitute exactiy that file'a
nama for the word ‘fred’.
Watch what happena.

A SuperBaSIC program will look

like a SuperBaSIiC listing;
other files will have smail
squares where characters
should be. This is a

representation showing that a
non-printing character exists.

It will whistle by on screen.
To make it pause. stop the
scrolling by preesing CTRL FS.
To continue, press FS (or any
other kay).

any file can be sant to the
screen in this fashion ta
learn something about what
kind of file it 1s. (See

IDing QU File Types, clieewhere
in thie issue?

There are two serial devices
on the OL, 'SER1' and 'SER2'.
‘Ser'alone defaulte to ‘seri’.
Any file consisting of ust
Printable characters can be
sent to the printer (if it is
attached to SERial port 1 and
is turned on) as follows

E.g. Copy mivil_fred to ser

A file that has non-printing
characters will sttil to ga to
the printer. However, the
non-printing characters may

BaSTUG Newsletter, Narch 19648

include control cades for the
printer itself that will cause
1t to react most unusually.

The expression ‘Look before
you Leap' comes to mind. If
unsure, first copy the tile to
the screen. Remember how from
above?

able to use the
networking in the QL you can
copy to NET as weil. But 1f
you could do that you wouldn't
need this little tutorial.

lf you are

SERial ports (and NETwork
ports) are also input devices,
60 if everything 1s otherwise
set up right. you can copy
from such devices as well
provided files are accessible
at the other end.

Nore
(Remember to
device name as

examples to develop ease
include the
part of the

file name so that the QL goes
to the right device to find
the file.):

E.g. #2

copy devi_fred to dev2_ fran

changes the file name to tran
but all else is the same.

E.g. #2
copy dev2_fred to scr
or copy dev2_fred ta con

bath do the same job of
displaying the file contents
on the default screen.

If you type very fast you can
get up to 32 bytes ahead of
the OL's ability to put the

characters on the screen
without a& {anr-up.
B.g. #3
copy con ta
Ser_10020a100x100
is very tnteresting. What you

type no longer appears in the
usual WINDOW#O, but directly
on the screen.

page tk

kegain control of
with BREAK

the cursor
(CTRL <SPACE>?.

Eig. #4
copy con ta
con_100x50a100x100 32

opens the same window as in
example #3 but sets the
keyboard buffer ta 32 bytes.

A very fast typist can get up
to 32 bytes ahead of the QL's

ability to put the characters
on the screen without a
jam-up.
E.g. #5

copy scr ta con

gives a ‘bad parameter' error
mescage. Why? Think of two
@ifferences between CON and
SCR.

E.g. #6

copy con to ser

will send what you type, not
to the screen, but to the

SERial 1 port, where you
presumably have a printer

When the characters you type
£4112 a line or you press
ENTER. the printer dumps its

own buffer to paper.
Conclusion of COPY.

The above is by no means a
complete rundown of what COPY
will or won't do. There is
more in the KEYWORDS csection
of your manuai and also many
improvements to thie ward in
TOOLKIT UI. But there ts also
stuff here you won't find
anywhere else.

Mike and I hope this has been
helpful and would appreciate
feedback an the content and
style of this tutorial.

- Peter Hale

BoSTUG Newsletter, March 1988

MEETING BOTES

The February meeting at the
University of Massachusetts
Harborside Campus introduced
was poorly attended, in part
due to being a carryover from
the cancelled January meeting.

Jim Rodlin demonstra.ad the

break-through Larken disc
controller for the 2068, a
very reasonably priced cont-

roller for use with Shugart
compatible drivee and inciud-
ing printer thru-port.

Added bonuses to
include several
that facilitate
the 2066 and the ability ta
copy protected software from
cassette to disc. For more
information contact Jim at hie
BBS voice number in the
Directory on page 1.

the package
new keywords
windowing on

Also demonstrated was Peter
Hale's TAX-1-OL/87 spreadsheet
template for the QL. Designed
ta do the 1987 Federal incoma
tax with a minimum of fuss and
& maximum of Schedules and
Forms. the program is $24.05
from BEMSOFT, Box 8763, Boston,
MA 02114.

We plan to conduct an active
program of General maetings
this year, but we need your
input. Give ue subjects that
interest you and we will try
to have the tapic addressed.

Contact John Kemeny: 263-3347.
WAET ADS

FOR SALE or DOHATION to worthy

cause. S/T 2068. 2040 printer.

TASword 2 & Interface. Miscel
software.

723-8545 for prices.

S/T 2068. Games.
etring floppy drive. tnterface
and T/S 206871000 pooks/
manuals. Includes PROfile data

base. blank cassettes. floppy
carts and misc accessories.

$100 takes it all. 723-8545.

FOR SALE:

page iz

Ding QL File Types

There is nothing quite so frustrating as to get @ disc or micro-
cartridge full ot programs and not know where ta start tn order
to make the programs work.

About all that most people are sure of ts that a file named
‘boot’ wtil load from drive one on startup.

Reading the directory ‘e.g. DIR mdiv2_>) will give a lot or clues.
There are some conventions in using tile extensions. They are
widely used but are by no means universal.

aba an ABACUS spreadsheet
are an ARCHIVE version 1.0 program
Aen AgGembly language source code (Will not run on a OL but

is provided for those who can compile Assembly language
programs and wish to make modifications.

bak A duplicate copy of a file with otherwise the came name.
bas A program written in SuperBASIC. Load then LIST to look
for names of associated files. Many programmers include
REM statements with instructions and aperating tips.
_bin A binary file. Loaded with LBYTE from a SuperBASIC
program elsewhere on the mediun.
boot A program to EXECute or LBYTE a file with a similar
Dame. E.g. XY¥Z_boot will probably EXECute a file called

XYZ_ex.
_c C language source cade
at A file of data that needs a program to utilise.

_data (See _dat)

abt An ARCHIVE database file. Often aasscaciated with an
ARCHIVE program with the extension _prg or _pro.

doc A Ou1ll ftie.

_ex A Machine code program. Execute with the command EXEC
or EXEC _W (BX or EW with Toolkit 11). Look for a boot
program that may set parameters or load data or binary
files before executing.

exe (See _ex)

exp A file exported by ABACUS, ARCHIVE, or EASEL. Depending

on haw it was exported may be imported to any of the
three or to QUILL.

_ert An EASEL file.

Job Often a machine code program requiring EXEC or EXEC_W
(See _ex), sometimes a binary file to LBYTE. (See _bin)

_lis A file from ARCHIVE or QUILL that has been "printed' ta
mediun. lf tha appropriate printer_dat file was present
when ‘printed', ‘copy xxx_lis to ser' (or with TOOLKIT
{1 ‘spl xxx_lis') will send directly to a printer.

_prg A program tor use under ARCHIVE. An ASCII file that may
be imported to QUILL pravided the extensian 1s inciuded,
_pra A program ror use under ARCHIVE, but in obiect code. It
toads more quickly than ASCII tiles with the extension

KOSTUG Newsletter, March 3984 page ta

_Prg but must use ‘load obtect “filename”'’ to Load.
rel Relocatable object code i.e. Machine code. (Sea ex)
_sen A Screen file for use with ARCHIVE prograns.

_task A Machine code file that must be EXECuted. (See _ex)

= 3 A Machine code ftle that must be executed. (See _ex)

Occasstonally, same dingdong will name a file with an extension
that 1s misleading. It’s rare but does happen.

More common is that the name of the file gives no indication of
its function or how to make it work.

In this case there ts a simple way to get an idea of what ia
bappening.

If you have TOOLKIT 1I, the command VIEW will show the part of
each line that will f1t on the screen: E.g. VIEW dev_ fred.

Without TOOLKIT, or even with, ENTER the following:

copy dev filename to ecr or copy dev_filenamsa_to con

ODOS has a default window for both of theese devices (acr or con)
and the entire file will be ‘printed’ to this window.

Have your fingers on CTRL FS to stop the scrolling if you want
to examine details of the file.

If the program ts in SuperBASIC you will probably immediately
notice the line numbers. You will occassionally see SuperBASIC
programs without line numbers, which run as soon as they are
loaded without having ta ask them to.

if vou see a column of numbers and/or word strings hugging the
left-hand border, you may be fatriy certain that you have found
a data file, which 1s input to mesory by another program either
in SuperBaASIC or tn Machine Cade. Files compiled (hence
EXECutable) will have the nama of the compiler used near the end
of the file: Supercharge, Turbocharge, QL Liberator.

lf, hawever, you see a lot of characters that look like little
boxes. you know vou have either a machine code file (which must
be executed) or a binary file, consisting of bytes that must be
LBYTEd and subsequently CALLed.

- Peter Hale

BoSTUG Newsletter, March 1988 page 14